September 19, 2007

Said Cate Blanchett about how her husband reacted to her when she was in costume for her role as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There":

Actress CATE BLANCHETT terrified her husband while filming BOB DYLAN biopic I'M NOT THERE - because he was "repulsed" at the sight of her disguised as a man. The Elizabeth star appears in drag in the new movie - for which she was named best actress at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month (Sep07) - but her spouse Andrew Upton hated seeing his usually feminine wife in character as the male singer/songwriter. She says, "He wouldn't come near me. He was utterly repulsed by it." And Blanchett admits she was prepared to go to great lengths to portray a man. She explains, "My friend put a sock down my pants and that kind of helped my walk."

My reactions:

1. What kind of repressed, no-fun husband is terrified and repulsed to see his wife in men's clothing? Even if he is into her femininity, disguising it should be intriguing. Is he horrified -- rather than fascinated -- by this:

2. But wait. Was he repulsed because she was dressed as "a man" or because she was dressed as the man who is Bob Dylan?

3. About that sock.... This puts a whole new interpretation on the title of one of my favorite songs "Walk Like a Man." I went over to YouTube to get a video of The Four Seasons -- you know I love them -- performing the original version. It's not there. It's just pure serendipity that when you search for "Walk Like a Man" on YouTube, you get this:

He shows up dressed as Lady Diana. His makeup and prothesises are perfect, his gown is exquisite, and he tells you in a modestly successful feminine, British accent that he is just doing a contest for fun.

Next time, maybe Judy Garland.

You:

1. Feel somewhat queasy. Repulsed in fact.2. Are eager to give him tips on how to sweep the gown when entering a room.3. Suggest he dress up as Rosie O'Donnell if he does drag again...

Isn't there a difference between seeing your wife in men's clothing and seeing your wife as a man? A woman can put on men's clothing and present herself as just that: a woman in a man's clothes. But Blanchett is a talented actor who surely took on more than that: she probably became hard to see as a woman because she presented so thoroughly as a man. Which, for Blanchett's presumably heterosexual husband, is understandably off-putting.

From watching the trailer, what's interesting (or ridiculous or great) about her performance is that she's clearly not trying to fool us into thinking she's a male actor. It's obvious she's a woman dressed like a man.

What that means artistically I don't know. (Maybe she's Dylan's 'anima,' to be Jungian about it.)

But the trailer was bizarre, especially the bit with the bloviated Allen Ginsberg tooling up to Dylan's limo in a golf cart.

Every time I see a film clip of EARLY Marlene Dietrich in "Der Blaue Engel", singing (in German, roughly translated) "I am adjusted from head to foot to love, because that is my world and otherwise nothing at all. That is, which I am to make, my nature."She was a good actress, and I believed her. She may have lived that way.

Blanchett is a good actress.It was Ferlinghetti who wrote,"The dog trots freely in the street and sees reality and the things he sees are bigger than himself and the things he sees are his reality"Perhaps Upton suddenly saw through a glass darkly - or like a dog in San Francisco

It seems to me that it's not entirely accurate she was "dressed in drag", precisely because she was attempting to fully imitate a man. When I think of a man dressed in drag, for example, I think of someone who is campy on purpose, a sort of parody of or tribute to femininity. Someone who is dealing with gender issues and really wants to be an authentic woman isn't really dressing in drag in that sense. Is that fair to say?

You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you.You'd be like heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much.At long last love has arrived. And I thank God I'm alive.You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you.

Pardon the way that I stare. There's nothing else to compare.The sight of you leaves me weak. There are no words left to speak.But if you feel like I feel. Please let me know that it's real.You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you.

I love you baby, and if it's quite all right,I need you baby to warm the lonely night. I love you baby.Trust in me when I say: Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray. Oh pretty baby, now that I found you. Stay.

And let me love you, baby. Let me love you ...

I love you baby, and if it's quite allright,I need you baby to warm the lonely night. I love you baby.Trust in me when I say: Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray. Oh pretty baby, now that I found you. Stay.

You don't have to be a weatherman to know what sex I am...I mean to know who to blow...I mean who'se blowing ho...or...errr...ahh...lay lay lady lay across my big brass bed....hey you're a lady right...ah forget it.

Anyway... if she did a good job of looking and acting like Bob Dylan -- and I can believe she would, she's a great actress -- I can see why that would repulse her husband. Dylan is not even a teeny little bit feminine.